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Decks Created by Black, Indigenous, and/or other People of Color


Raggydoll

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What about Lynyrd Narisco’s decks? He is based in the Philippines and has many brilliant decks: Vanessa and Tarot de Maria Cecilia are widely available. 
 

He’s created other beautiful decks but they may not be as easy to come by?

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Before anyone pops up with a "Native" deck, please take a moment to read this:

https://www.lelandra.com/comptarot/tarotindian.htm

 

I can't speak for First Nations Peoples, but I do want to note that most, possibly all of these decks are done by plastic shamans and white people "playing Indian." 

 

We may end up with a dearth of Native decks here, and that's OK. It's kind of a special circumstance - they've had too much stolen and many just want to be left alone. 

 

I'd really like to find some great Chicano/Latinx decks. It's likely the Native branches of their ancestry would be represented and honored in a respectful manner.

 

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5 minutes ago, Flaxen said:

What about Lynyrd Narisco’s decks? He is based in the Philippines and has many brilliant decks: Vanessa and Tarot de Maria Cecilia are widely available. 
 

He’s created other beautiful decks but they may not be as easy to come by?

I think rare/OOP decks should be included. @Raggydoll?

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8 hours ago, Raggydoll said:
8 hours ago, Decan said:

The Hoodoo Tarot is still on my wish list!!

 

@Raggydoll I remember of the Ghetto Tarot (people spoke about it on AT years ago); hoping there isn't controversy with this one though (cultural appropriation, I'm not sure)

I checked and the creator is a white woman from Belgium so it won't be included in this list. We will only include decks by black, indigenous, people of color 🖤 If the deck is not featured in the big list of diverse decks then we could add it there.

Although the Ghetto Tarot was photographed by a white woman, it was created by a group of Haitian artists using only materials found in the ghetto, which as explained in the book is a term of celebration of a lifestyle and culture.  Since the point of the deck is to showcase that culture, using the deck is also a celebration of that culture.  Therefore, there is no cultural appropriation.  Whether it fits the criteria for the list is one question; the motives for its creation are another.

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Oracles:

Medicine Cards and Sacred Path cards  >> Jamie Sams is first Nations

White Eagle Medicine Wheel cards - Wa-Na- Nee - Che

Lakota Sweat Lodge cards - Archie Fire Lame Deer

 

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32 minutes ago, Flaxen said:

What about Lynyrd Narisco’s decks? He is based in the Philippines and has many brilliant decks: Vanessa and Tarot de Maria Cecilia are widely available. 
 

He’s created other beautiful decks but they may not be as easy to come by?

I have no idea of his ethnicity though - the guy I suggested and then said well, no is VERY Yukon - but is definitely not BAME.

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There is also The Star That Never Walks Around, by Stella Bennett, a Native American Woman.  Bonus - it's round!  Oddly, no one seems to have heard of this deck...

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47 minutes ago, Mi-Shell said:

Lakota Sweat Lodge cards - Archie Fire Lame Deer

Archie was 100% real, from the Rosebud. John Fire Lame Deer's son. 

There's a lot of controversy around those Sweat Lodge cards, though. A lot of people strongly objected to his taking a sacred ceremony and making it into a consumer product targeted at white new agers, who were, and continue to be a huge problem.

I don't know what @Raggydoll wants to do in cases like this. Maybe include it, but with a disclaimer? 

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1 hour ago, devin said:

These guys seem to think Wa-Na-Nee - Che is suspect. I have no idea.

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=748.0

That's pretty damning. 

 

ETA: We need to be especially vigilant with these decks since there's been so many new age hucksters passing themselves off as Native. It's something rarely done to other races. 

 

It's not as simple as finding a photo and seeing if the person looks Native. There are Natives out there who look like Black or Caucasian people because so few full bloods were not killed. I certainly think it's offensive to say that the Wampanoag aren't "real Indians".

 

There needs to be careful research done. 

 

Edited by katrinka
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9 hours ago, katrinka said:

Archie was 100% real, from the Rosebud. John Fire Lame Deer's son. 

There's a lot of controversy around those Sweat Lodge cards, though. A lot of people strongly objected to his taking a sacred ceremony and making it into a consumer product targeted at white new agers, who were, and continue to be a huge problem.

I don't know what @Raggydoll wants to do in cases like this. Maybe include it, but with a disclaimer? 

I’m open to what everyone here feels is the best way to handle it. 

 

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I will update the list with all these suggestions later because I’m on my phone right now, so know that it’s coming! Thank you all for contributing! 

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46 minutes ago, Grandma said:

There is also The Star That Never Walks Around, by Stella Bennett, a Native American Woman.  Bonus - it's round!  Oddly, no one seems to have heard of this deck...

Ooh, that sounds very interesting!

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Here are some images of the Star that Never Walks Around deck that @grandma informed us about. The picture is borrowed from tarotgarden

 

I really love the feel of this deck! It goes on my wish list 😊

 

starthatneverwalkscards__49718.thumb.jpg.04108f25df4ef5cead1325ddfe366dc4.jpg

 

Please feel free to share images of other decks on the list so that we can enjoy the lovely art! 

 

 

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I just want to say that I feel that it is important that we keep the focus on highlighting and celebrating decks made by BIPOC, and that we do not get caught in discussions around any single deck creator that we think might not belong on the list. If there is doubt, I will leave them off for now. Lets keep it simple and friendly - no debating please. I also think its best if we don't refer to sites such as newagefraud because a lot of what they post are based on personal opinion and hearsay, and this is not the place to sift through all their posts in order to decide if there is validity to their objections. 

 

Now - Lets spread the love for great decks! 

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3 hours ago, katrinka said:

Archie was 100% real, from the Rosebud. John Fire Lame Deer's son. 

There's a lot of controversy around those Sweat Lodge cards, though. A lot of people strongly objected to his taking a sacred ceremony and making it into a consumer product targeted at white new agers, who were, and continue to be a huge problem.

I don't know what @Raggydoll wants to do in cases like this. Maybe include it, but with a disclaimer? 

This is/ was not targeted towards white new agers but more to modern and young First Nations folks. 

Sadly these days there are a lot of Natives, that write derogatory and defaming things about ANY Native person teaching any type of knowledge or practice to anyone, including other Natives. Almost all Native writers and artists, teachers and Medicine People sooner or later end up in the dregs of sites like "new age fraud.org".

It is sad.

(.....Even more sad is , that I am writing these words out of personal experience - and the fact that I personally do know Archie, Jamie Sams and sat with her beloved Grandma Twylah Nitsch .....)

 All this however does not take away from the fact, that these decks, books and other products are created by Native Americans and the decks should be named in this thread. 

 

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4 hours ago, Mi-Shell said:

All this however does not take away from the fact, that these decks, books and other products are created by Native Americans and the decks should be named in this thread. 

Decks actually done by Natives should absolutely be included.
What I suggested was a disclaimer in cases where there have been strong objections from other Natives.
Let people see both sides and make up their own minds.

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5 hours ago, Mi-Shell said:

This is/ was not targeted towards white new agers but more to modern and young First Nations folks. 

Sadly these days there are a lot of Natives, that write derogatory and defaming things about ANY Native person teaching any type of knowledge or practice to anyone, including other Natives. Almost all Native writers and artists, teachers and Medicine People sooner or later end up in the dregs of sites like "new age fraud.org".

It is sad.

(.....Even more sad is , that I am writing these words out of personal experience - and the fact that I personally do know Archie, Jamie Sams and sat with her beloved Grandma Twylah Nitsch .....)

 All this however does not take away from the fact, that these decks, books and other products are created by Native Americans and the decks should be named in this thread. 

 

I agree. I will include them. I am not First Nation and I do not wish to take on a role where I, as a white person, can sit and decide who is a legit First Nations or not. If someone thinks it is really important to know more in depth about a particular First Nations deck creator then they can do that research for themselves. But this thread is not the place for that. So unless we know for a fact that someone made up that they are First Nation, they will be on this list. We have a similar situation here in Scandinavia where young and modern Sami people are criticized for running workshops or writing books that blend the traditional with the contemporary. Nonetheless, they are Sami. Whether someones teachings are 100% true to the traditions of their origin is not the topic of this thread. So, again, that is research that will have to be done by the one who is interested in their products. 

 

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Just a quick note that I have removed some posts referring to the new age fraud site, since it has already been stated that we will not use it as a means of determining someones validity. (See my previous post). So from hereon, lets stay to the topic of finding and celebrating decks created by black, indigenous, people of color. And please feel free to share pics! 

 

 

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These images are from the Black Power Tarot (I took them from this site, where you are able to buy this deck). This is such a cool deck! And for those that love to read directions and facial expressions - oh, my! So much to go on!

 

0006446063_10.jpg.51cb2719c001fb3f7f8817659e1c6112.jpg

 

 

0006446066_10.jpg.acbdcae51cf2a2e7130f7f2f91c7087c.jpg

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32 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

These images are from the Black Power Tarot (I took them from this site, where you are able to buy this deck). This is such a cool deck! And for those that love to read directions and facial expressions - oh, my! So much to go on!

You can read more about them here.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jpvb8g/black-power-tarot-cards-feature-billie-holiday-andre-3000
 

And here. It's a deck of people we "know" already, in the familiar TdM Majors format. It should be a fine reading deck!
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_black_power_tarot_beautifully_illustrated_tarot_deck_with_sun_ra_richar

I think  the Dust II Onyx is a beautiful deck.  Available in two sizes, and there's journals, totes, and art prints available to go with it. There's something special about this one.
https://dust2onyx.com/
 

Here are some of the cards, taken from the website:

Capture.thumb.JPG.a64d2f5a862b321ef7ae136718036c13.JPG




 

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9 minutes ago, katrinka said:

You can read more about them here.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jpvb8g/black-power-tarot-cards-feature-billie-holiday-andre-3000
 

And here. It's a deck of people we "know" already, in the familiar TdM Majors format. It should be a fine reading deck!
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_black_power_tarot_beautifully_illustrated_tarot_deck_with_sun_ra_richar

I think  the Dust II Onyx is a beautiful deck.  Available in two sizes, and there's journals, totes, and art prints available to go with it. There's something special about this one.
https://dust2onyx.com/
 

Here are some of the cards, taken from the website:

Capture.thumb.JPG.a64d2f5a862b321ef7ae136718036c13.JPG




 

Thank you! Dust II Onyx is such a unique deck and it feels really powerful. I’d say it has a strong presence, if that makes sense! 

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It does. Definitely a presence, like there's an intelligence behind it. 
I guess all cards are kind of like that, but this one feels strong.
I need to get this one. 😊
 

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